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How To Write An Essay On The Alchemist Hero's Journey

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The Alchemist is a fantasy adventure book written by Paulo Coelho. It tells the story of a young Shepherd named Santiago, whose life changes after a conversation with an old gypsy and a king. He leaves his life of taking care of sheep to pursue his personal legend. The shepherd decides to go on the path of the Hero’s Journey. This path is structured in a certain way and has been accomplished by many other heroes in other stories. The first part of the Hero’s Journey is the Call to Adventure. The Call to Adventure is something that puts the hero on the start of a grueling difficult path to achieve something. Santiago’s Call to Adventure is his personal legend of finding treasure in the pyramids. He was pushed into it by the old gypsy. “You must go to the Pyramids in Egypt...there you will find a treasure that will make you a rich man” (pg 14). At first the young shepherd is very hesitant at this idea, he believes the lady is crazy and wrong about his future. Eventually he does decide to pursue his treasure. Santiago’s life changes drastically especially his daily routine, his comfort zone, is forever changed. Crossing the Threshold is when the hero finally leaves the “familiar” world and goes into the “new” world where the adventure takes place. Santiago decides to sell his flock of sheep and takes a …show more content…

The author wants people to know that sometimes fear is a bigger obstacle than the obstacle itself. During parts of Santiago’s journey he was scared to move forward, his journey could have been much easier without the fears of traveling to the unknown and losing Fatima. Santiago’s journey not only fulfilled his personal legend, but it literally let him follow his dreams. The boy dreamt about his treasure and with the journey he made his dreams become a reality. The book tells its readers to never give up and to ignore the voice of fear as it pertains to an individual’s

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